I’ll Be the Judge of That! – So You Think You Can Dance 5, August 5

I tell you everyone, I am pumped for this finale. I’m pleased with the final four, I’m excited about the routines hoping the girls’ routine won’t suck (looking at your foxes, Wade Robson, and your parasols, Tyce Diorio), and I hope we can squeeze in some great performances before the whole shebang is over tomorrow. The theatre is beautiful! The fans are screaming! Tonight’s going to be busy so let’s get crack-a-lackin’. Go ahead and read Jenn’s recap if you haven’t yet, and let’s get it on!

Everybody! – Jazz

Okay, this was fun. I had to take it in to see if I thought it was going to be too stupid, and while it was definitely cheesy, it was still cute. I wasn’t crazy about the girls flashin’ some bloomers, but that’s the high school teacher in me. I don’t think this was something meant to be heavily scrutinized, and I didn’t, but I could tell they all had a lot of fun. No one stood out as bad or worse than anybody else, which is good. I wasn’t like “Wow! What an amazing dance!” If this is the only time these four dance together, I’ll be peeved, but I’m assuming the great group dance will be for tomorrow. This just seemed like a pick-me-up to start things off.

Jeanine & Evan – Jazz

I was excited for this pairing since I think they do such a great job of bringing a story to life. While I wasn’t expecting a routine with this particular kind of story, they both did a really good job. Jeanine was definitely the focal point because she’s the strong woman to Evan’s pleading, flailing ex-who-isn’t-worth-keeping, which I think gave her an advantage for this piece. I was bored with Evan’s roll in the whole thing being reduced to creative ways to fall, but whenever I’d catch his face, he definitely showed his commitment to the part he was given. I agree with the judges, though, that Jeanine was wonderful.

Brandon – solo

First off, I like that there was Cat’s interview footage right before their solo. What a great way to not only show them off as dancers, but to show them off as people, too. I like that the judges were commenting about them, too. No solo he could have possibly come up with would compare to last week’s so I’ll do my best to not compare the two. He seemed to want to pack so much into it, though, that it was a bit manic. While some of his moves were rushed, it caused him to fall off his center on his turns. He is so powerful, though, how can you not be impressed with what he does?

Brandon seems like a really sweet guy. I’ve heard that people think he’s cocky, which I absolutely do not see, but I’d love to hear from people who think that so I can understand. I’m sensitive to people with self-esteem issues as I have them myself, so I’m not going to pick on him, but no matter where he ends up tomorrow in the rankings, I hope getting this far gives him the validation he needs to get over that hurdle. Part of me worries that if he doesn’t win, he’ll think he failed. His journey is nothing short of stunning.

Kayla & Brandon – Broadway

The backlight at the beginning was cool. This definitely showed off the talent of these two dancers. Kayla’s extensions (her legs, not her hair) were fantastic as usual and Brandon danced with such energy even though he had just done his solo. I would have liked Kayla to have more pizzazz in her expression so it would have matched what Brandon was going for and what the routine called for. She definitely had the cool Bond girl thing going most of the time, and while her look definitely was that, it didn’t really match the feel of the routine.

Their turns (when Nigel sounded like he was saying “AH-LA-SEC-OWN,” he meant that their legs stayed straight out to their side instead of whipping them around like a fouetté turn; the term is “a la second” in French) were off toward the end of the sequence, but I’m nitpicking at this point. There were so many cool moments in this routine that they don’t need to sweat the little stuff.

Jeanine – solo

Jeanine seems like such a cool chick! I had no idea the Jason smooch wasn’t choreographed! I was worried she’d be lost in the shuffle like I thought Ashley was, but she always managed to do the best with what was given to her. She managed to stand out in routines yet still show a spark with whomever she’s partnered with. We will never get over that Russian folk dance! (It was really terrible, though, so I don’t blame her.) This was a very strong routine. Jeanine’s turns blew my mind! What’s so amazing is that she turned for a long time and then she’ll slowly come to a stop while staying on the leg she turned on. This wasn’t the first time she’s done it. That was absolutely incredible that she kept her center like that. Do you hear how that crowd erupted for her?

Evan & Brandon – Pop Jazz/Hip-hop (I didn’t know what to call it.)

I didn’t like this one. Most of my dislike was with the choreography, which I’ll get to, but I’ll try to only talk about the dancers here. Evan did fall flat for me since I think it was hard for him to act mean without looking like he was trying too hard. (I said that before Adam, but I thought he articulated it better.) They both looked so bulky and heavy in their movements like the whole thing was such a chore. The costuming definitely didn’t help since it only made them look bulkier. While Brandon did the better job with acting all mean, this routine didn’t do anything to show off how well these two dance. Even the judges’ comments were only about how Evan can’t act mean, not that he’s an inferior dancer. However, Evan’s response to Mary’s “What’s the nastiest thing you’ve ever done?” was great.